


Among the Sleep BBS AU

by BayleafBeeen



Category: Among the Sleep (Video Game), Banana Bus Squad
Genre: At least I would think so, He’s determined though, Hmm everyone's gone missing, I don’t know how to write a toddler having a panic attack, Little Baby Delirious, Looking for Gorillaphent, Loosely based on Among the Sleep, Poor Baby Del though, Poor owl gets washed and dried, Scared and Alone, Spooky basement, Stairs are a lot of work for toddlers, Stuffed Owl Vanoss, There's also a mom character, Who is not like the ATS one because I don't have the heart for that, i wonder why
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-02-01 02:48:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21343288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BayleafBeeen/pseuds/BayleafBeeen
Summary: Better title soon maybe? (Once I think of one.)But yeah! Look, I wrote something for this after all! I'm working on writing more, but honestly no promises. I do still really love this idea and welcome any other content on it! I freaking love art and stuff of it since I'm no artist myself. ^u^ Be sure to tag me if you post anything, I'd love to see it!I first posted this basic idea on Tumblr so if you haven't seen that and want to,here it is.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. Lost then Found

**Author's Note:**

> Better title soon maybe? (Once I think of one.)
> 
> But yeah! Look, I wrote something for this after all! I'm working on writing more, but honestly no promises. I do still really love this idea and welcome any other content on it! I freaking love art and stuff of it since I'm no artist myself. ^u^ Be sure to tag me if you post anything, I'd love to see it!
> 
> I first posted this basic idea on Tumblr so if you haven't seen that and want to, [here it is.](https://bayleafbeeen.tumblr.com/post/182388496281)

_“Ev?”_ The young toddler called out into the darkness of the house around him. Small feet covered in blue star-patterned footie pajamas shuffled quietly against the cold hardwood floors of the hallway as he stumbled his way towards the staircase. Small hands reached up as he attempted to rub the sleep out of his eyes, having just woken up in the middle of the night. When they opened back up, he could swear he saw shadows moving out of the corner of his eye, but blinking sleepily and looking again only proved that there was nothing there. Just the hyperactive imagination everyone always said he had, working overtime to keep him awake.

Why he was up and awake at a time like this was still a bit of a mystery to him. He’d woken up empty-handed in his crib and had found his way out to go look for his owl companion that he had most definitely fallen asleep with, he thought. He wasn’t sure why his stuffed friend had left him in his sleep, or how he managed it, but he did know that he had to find him. He was nowhere to be found in his room or the hallway, so he was headed downstairs to look for him there. He sure hoped his stuffed buddy was alright, and he hoped there was a good reason for his disappearance.

When he heard a door open from behind him, he started walking faster in a panic as he tried to escape whatever was approaching him from behind. Arms wrapped around him as he struggled against them, frantically trying to get out of their hold. _“Ev-an!”_ He cried out best he could as he was forced into those arms against his will.

“What on earth are you doing up so late Jonathan? And how did you get all the way out here?” He heard his captor say gently, and he relaxed into the arms holding him. He knew that voice, and it calmed him just hearing it. Maybe she would help him find his friend.

His movements in the night had woken up his dear mother. She was perplexed about how and why he was up but focused on getting him back to bed for now. As soon as she turned around to bring him back to his room, he started struggling against her once more, pulling on her sleeve to get her attention. _“Va-noss.”_ He stated firmly, pointing towards the staircase that led downstairs.

“What?” She replied, looking back at where he was pointing as she walked into his room. “You lost your little Owl? How would it have gotten all the way downstairs?” She asked aloud as she scanned the room, seeing no sign of the stuffed animal he was looking for. She sighed and turned back around with him still in her arms, opening the baby gate protecting the staircase and walking down the steps. She knew she’d have to find that owl if she even hoped to get him back to sleep.

At the bottom of the stairs, they both looked around for any sign of the stuffed toy, but neither saw anything. His mom, however, heard something rumbling softly and turned into the small laundry room where the noise was coming from. The washer was running, and she wasn’t exactly sure why. She put Del down and he ran to the clear glass door of the machine, putting his hands up on it to look inside. What he saw was his stuffed friend being swirled around the small drum of the washer, watching as the water crashed against the door in small waves. The toddler hit the door lightly a few times as he desperately looked back at his mom, causing her to move to stop the washing machine. She turned it off and let it drain, pulling the small boy back as she opened the door of it.

”That’s odd. I don’t remember putting this in here, but I must have thought it looked too dirty not to wash.” She reasoned with herself out loud as she pulled out the small toy that seemed to be the only thing in there, and gently wrung it out. The poor thing was drenched, and Del reached out to grab it from her. She quickly pulled it up and out of his reach, moving to put it in the dryer.

“It’s sopping wet Jon, I don’t want you to get a cold from this thing. You’ll just have to wait for it to dry.” She told him sternly as she put it in the machine with a dryer sheet and turned it on. Del wobbled his way over to the dryer and sat down right in front of it, crossing his arms and legs as he stared at the machine in worry.

“You’re just going to sit down here with it till it’s ready? Really?” She questioned, and watched as the toddler didn’t budge one bit. “Fine, fine,” She sighed, “I’m going to go to the kitchen to get you some warm milk for when it’s done and you go back to bed. Behave yourself, okay?” She asked, and waited until she knew he had heard her before turning on her heel and heading into the other room. “Maybe I’ll get myself something to drink too.” She mumbled, rubbing one of her eyes as she disappeared out of sight behind the door leading to the other room.

Del scooted himself closer to the machine and put one of his hands up on it, hoping to console the poor stuffed owl stuck inside. He watched as he was twisted and tumbled around within it, effectively drawing the water out of him. He hoped that he wouldn’t be too upset, being washed and dried like that without any say in the matter. He could see that the small thing wanted to say something, but he couldn't quite manage to talk while being thrown around like that. So they both waited silently, hoping the owl would be alright and that he would dry quickly.


	2. Missing Animals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back. I totally didn't forget all about posting this haha *sweats* Please feel free to give me title ideas too, I still can't think of any good ones. 
> 
> You can actually thank milkbag_03 for me posting this new chapter, they just posted the start of an amazing story, which you should most definitely check out! [Beyond the Finish](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22983349/chapters/54946615) It's amazing, go check it out! It inspired me to keep posting my own, and I thank them for that. <3
> 
> But yeah, hope y'all like it! I have one more chapter ready and even more on the way hopefully. I'm excited. :D Thanks to all my lovely friends who are proofreading and giving me feedback on my doc of it. <3 And thanks to everyone who's reading, I'm glad you like it! Till next time. Enjoy!

The young toddler woke up the next night for the very same reason, bleary-eyed and empty-handed. However, the state of his room was quite different this time. It looked to have been torn up by something and was in complete disarray. His crib was on its side, he himself having been thrown out of it. He stood up from where he was on the rug in the middle of the room and looked around at the chaos that enveloped his room. 

All of his toys were thrown about the room, the gate to his playpen torn down. The small toy train was missing from its track, and all of his books were scattered on the floor from their rightful place on the bookshelves. His poster of a raccoon was hanging off the wall, torn slightly by something. The framed photos, paintings, and art projects in his room had all fallen from where they were hung, a few missing from the room entirely. The blue-colored curtains that usually covered the window were torn down carelessly, and he could see the moon and stars shining brightly outside. 

He didn’t know what could have caused all of this, but he didn’t think too hard about it for the moment. His first priority was finding Vanoss again. Come to think of it, where were the rest of his animals? He briefly looked around his room but he couldn’t find _any _of them. Why would someone take them all from him? Was it whatever did this to his room that took them? _ Where were they now? _ There were a lot of things he was unsure of, but one thing he was sure of; he _had _to find them all. 

He took careful, quiet steps out of his bedroom, looking around in the darkness for anything out of the ordinary. He decided his first task was to see if he could wake up his mother, hoping she could help him find them like she had the first time. He turned toward the door to her room and quietly made his way over to it. 

Once he got close enough to her door, he realized the problem. The doorknob was too high for him to reach, and he didn’t think just knocking would be enough to wake her up. He paused for a moment as he thought, already stumped in his journey. His first thought was to climb something, but what? There was an end table next to her door, but that was also too high for him to climb. He needed something shorter, that he could easily move close enough. 

Getting an idea, he turned around and toddled back to his room, stepping over all the scattered toys to find one of the large building blocks he owned. He knew he could climb these, as he’d used them many times before to escape his playpen. He pushed one of them out of the room and into the hallway, positioning it right in front of his mother's door. He climbed up onto the box and reached for the doorknob to pull down and push it open. He climbed back down and pushed the block towards the bed in the room, climbing up again and plopping himself on the bed with a small giggle of victory. 

_ “Mommy, mama!” _ He called out, crawling to the other side of the bed to wake her up. When he pulled at the sheets and saw an empty bed, he was confused. _ She wasn’t here? _What was she doing up? Where could she be at a time like this? Did this have to do with everything else? Did whatever take his friends take his mom too? 

He sat where he was for a while, so overwhelmed by being completely alone that he started crying. He couldn’t handle this all by himself. He was rarely even apart from Vanoss for long, let alone _all _of his friends. His mom had always been the one to find and give his animals back, when only one or two would go missing at a time. He couldn’t remember a time he’d ever been without _any _of them, and he wasn’t sure he could find them all by himself. 

As he sat there bawling, a strange noise made him pause and sniffle. It was an oddly familiar sound. He’d heard that sound before, hadn't he? He quieted himself quickly only to hear the noise again, and climbed down from the bed to find the source of it. He crawled towards the vent in his mother’s room and put his ear up to it. He was relieved to hear the noise clearer this time, figuring out what it was. It sounded like an elephant trumpeting, and he knew just what was making that noise.

It was Gorillaphant, his big purple elephant friend! He’d heard his large buddy make that loud noise many times before, and he often tried to mimic it back to him, and so that’s what he did. He imitated the noise as best he could into the vent as he tried to figure out where he could be. His mom had told him about these things before, how they made sure the room wasn’t too hot or too cold for them. He’d also heard his mom say something about this one, in particular, a while ago, about how it was bringing up some smell from the basement?

So that’s where he decided he’d go in search of his giant stuffed pal. 


	3. Saving Rilla

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hello, I didn't see you there! I totally didn't forget about this again, what are you talking about? *nervous laughter*  
In other news, I suck at titles, even just for the chapters oops. Still don't really have a good one for the main title...
> 
> But here it is! I actually have more already written, I just gotta remember to post it haha. I never thought I'd write much for this and I still have no idea how it will end so that's fun. Who knows what I'll do. ;)
> 
> I also suck at writing in general but specifically horror stuff, so excuse the lame scary scenes lol. I'm trying my best and I honestly really love it still. :D

His trip down the staircase was a slow one as he crawled down each big step, one at a time. He wasn’t sure how to get to the basement, but he’d heard his mom say something about basement stairs, so all he’d have to do is find another staircase,  _ right?  _

As he was looking around for more stairs, he was starting to get paranoid. He kept hearing strange noises in the night, creaky floorboards, leaky faucets, sounds from outside. He’d thought he’d seen something out of the corner of his eye many times, but all he ever saw clearly were just shadows in the darkness. He  _ swore  _ it seemed like the shadows were creeping all around the house like they were chasing him. 

But he couldn’t let the fear stop him.  _ He had to do this. _ He couldn’t just let all of his friends down. They were probably just as scared as he was, forcefully taken from his room  like that. What if they were all alone, too, with no way out of where they might be trapped? No, he wouldn’t give up.  _ He couldn’t.  _ He  _ had _ to find them, had to save them. He couldn’t just abandon them now. 

He peered down the looming staircase that he presumed led down into the basement hesitantly. He wasn’t sure he could do this,  _ but he had to try. _ He turned around and started crawling down each stair, not sure where he was even going. He’d never been to the basement before, as he wasn’t allowed down here. His mom had said it was too dangerous for someone as little as him. 

He hoped she was wrong for once.

As he made it down the last stair, he could faintly hear the distressed trumpeting noise that had led him here. He looked around the area that was new to him, seeing lots of boxes and other junk cluttering the hall. Around the corner in front of him was what looked like a figure standing completely still. Del convinced himself it was just the darkness playing tricks on his eyes yet again. He walked down the long hallway cautiously, eyes on his feet as he stepped over things scattered on the floor. 

When he glanced back up, he was startled. The figure looking thing at the end of the hall was gone without a trace. That was strange. All the other shadows in the room hadn’t changed one bit, so why would only that one have moved? He continued on, as it was all he could do, now stopping every few seconds to look up again for any changes. 

The next time he looked up was a mistake. The figure, it was there again. But not in the same place as before. It was somehow  _ closer  _ this time. He hadn’t gone far enough for it to be so close to him yet, had he? Was it moving, or was he just imagining it?

He stood still and stared at the shadow for some time, looking desperately for any sign of movement or change, but saw nothing. The longer he stared, the more scared he became. It couldn’t be moving, so why did it look like it was? Like the shadows were curling around it, ever-changing shifts without anything actually moving. Wisps of darkness licking in the air around it, fading in and out off of it. 

_ What was this thing? _

He had been staring for too long. Standing out in the open, in plain sight of it.

It had seen him.  _ And it was not happy.  _

His heartbeat throbbed in his ear as he stumbled to the side to hide between boxes, hoping the tall shadowy figure wouldn’t see him. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and held his breath as much as he could,  _ praying  _ that it didn’t find him. Time seemed to stand still, listening carefully as the figure looked around for him. After not finding him, it seemingly gave up, going up the staircase Del had just come down. 

Del was frozen where he was, panic still overtaking him. He _hadn’t _imagined it. He really _did _see that, that _thing._ _And it had seen him. _Is that what took his friends? And his mom too? What did it want with them? What did it want with him? What if it came back? What would happen if it caught _him?_

The only thing that seemed to break him out of his panic temporarily was the familiar trumpeting that had started this entire journey down. 

He was still trembling as he quickly crawled towards the noise, not fully out of his panic attack. “Rilla!” He called out frantically as he turned the corner sharply and dived into the giant elephant sitting there. He curled into his big lap as he hugged him, crying into his fur. He felt the large animal’s arms wrap around him, and his trunk pet his hair soothingly. 

“It’s okay; it’s gone now.” Gorillaphant soothed softly, trying to calm the young toddler down. They sat like that as Del slowly calmed down, returning his breathing to normal. 

He had done it. He figured out where he needed to go. He made it all the way down here. He hid from the shadow monster in time.  _ He found one of his friends.  _

Now he just had to find the rest of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS. I love that people call Gorillaphant Rilla because it's adorable and fits so well with this story, little baby Del calling out 'Rilla' is just the cutest image for some reason. :') I had to think of short easy nicknames this tiny toddler could call them all and I still don't like some of them so any sujestions would also be neat.


End file.
